Level A2/B1 (Upper beginner/Lower intermediate)
The French word of the day is the verb quitter, which means ‘to leave’. This verb causes some confusion as students often assume quitter means ‘to quit’.
quitter – IPA pronunciation /kite/
“Quitter”: How to Say “To Leave” In French
Word origin
Quitter comes from the Latin word quitus, which means ‘rested’, ‘calm’ and ‘in peace’.
Example sentences
Leaving a person
The most common usage of quitter is to leave, as in leaving a person. Belgian singer Jacques Brel made the line famous in his 1959 song Ne me quitte pas (Don’t leave me).
Ne me quitte pas ! J’ai besoin de toi !
Don’t leave me! I need you!
Après trois ans ensemble, Martin quitte sa petite copine.
After three years together, Martin is leaving his girlfriend.
Leaving a place
The verb quitter can also be used in the context of leaving a place. Here’s an example.
Je vais quitter Paris le 17 mars.
I’m going to leave Paris on March 17.
Conversation usage
You can also use quitter in telephone conversations to say something to the effect of ‘I have to go (or hand up) now’.
Pardon, je dois te quitter, mon ami m’attend.
Sorry, I have to leave you. My friend is waiting for me.
Parting ways
In the form of reciprocal reflexive verb, se quitter means ‘to leave each other’ or ‘to part ways’.
Ils se quittent sur le quai de la gare.
They are parting ways on the train station platform.
Present tense conjugation
Quitter is regular ER verb. This means that its endings are the same as other regular ER verbs when conjugated in the present tense.
Je quitte I leave
Tu quittes You leave (singular, informal)
Il, elle, on quitte He, she, one leaves
Nous quittons We leave
Vous quittez You leave (plural, formal)
Ils, elles quittent They leave
Conclusion
Now that you’ve mastered quitter, check out our lesson covering the verb bosser. Rather than meaning ‘to boss around’, this commonly used informal verb means ‘to work’ or ‘to work hard’.
Recent word of the day lessons
References
